Once Japan unified in 600, the country was ruled by a samurai class during the Heian period (794-1603) and a feudal military dictatorship.

794

Under the Heian Period, the samurai class of Japanese warriors erodes the emperor’s control. The samurai’s influence and power grows and the local feudal system endures for 700 years.

1603

The Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal military dictatorship, is established.

1854

Japan signs trade treaty with U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry, after Perry threatens to bombard coastal cities. The treaty ends two centuries of Japanese isolationism.

MODERNIZATION AND NATIONALISM

1868

Samurai establish new Meiji government, which restores power to the emperor.

1889

Japan adopts its first Western-style constitution, establishing a bicameral legislature, the Imperial Diet. The emperor remains in power, but does not possess full authority or direct rule.

1890

During the period of Westernization, industrialization and modernization, the Meiji government sets forth a document called the Imperial Rescript on Education based on Confucian philosophy and emphasizing Japanese nationalism and cultural commonality.

1894- 1895

Japan defeats China in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Japan annexes Taiwan and sways Chinese influence in Korea. The strength of Japan’s modern and Western-styled military prepares Japan to dominate the region and shift power from China.

1904- 1905

The Russo-Japanese War breaks out when Japan launches a surprise attack on Port Arthur, Manchuria. Japan and Russia vie for dominance of the region, specifically Manchuria and the Korean peninsula. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt mediates the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905, giving Japan control of Korea.

Ultra-nationalistic military troops assassinate the Japanese Prime Minister, Inukai Tsuyoshi. The military exerts its power in international and domestic politics.

1933

After the League of Nations condemns Japan for its military attack on Manchuria, Japan withdraws its membership.

1936

Japan signs anti-communist agreement with Nazi Germany.

1937- 1938

Japan goes to war with China marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japan captures the Chinese city of Nanjing and within four months, Japanese troops massacre 250,000 to 300,000, and rape an estimated 20,000 women. High-level Japanese officials deny the “Rape of Nanjing” and discredit the murderous accounts and wartime atrocities. It is considered one of the worst massacres in modern times. Japan also captures Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing.

The U.S. rounds up 117,000 Japanese-Americans and relocates them to internment camps during the war.

1945

On May 7, 1945, Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allied Powers (U.S., Great Britain and China).

1945

On July 26, 1945, the Allied Powers define the terms for Japan’s unconditional surrender in the Potsdam Declaration. In the event that Japan does not surrender, the Allied Powers threaten “prompt and utter destruction.”

1945

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb is known as “Little Boy” in reference to former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The final toll is estimated around 100,000, of Hiroshima’s 350,000 population. Two days later, the Soviet Union joins the Potsdam Declaration against Japan.

1945

On August 9, 1945, the U.S. drops a second atomic bomb, this time on Nagasaki. The bomb is known as “Fat Man” in a reference to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Approximately 30 percent of Nagasaki is destroyed and 74,000 people are killed. Japan is placed under U.S. military government rule.

1945

On September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrenders to the Allied Forces and WWII comes to a close. U.S. occupies Japan for the next seven years.

Under the supervision of General Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers), the U.S. drafts a new constitution for Japan, abolishing and forbidding future military forces under Article 9, declaring the people’s sovereignty and stripping the emperor of political authority.

1950

Japan supplies materials to the U.S. during the Korean War. This begins to resuscitate the Japanese economy.

1951

Japan signs the Treaty of Peace with the U.S. and 48 other nations, officially ending WWII. The USSR, Czechoslovakia and Poland did not sign the treaty. Japan relinquishes all overseas territories.

1952

U.S. occupation ends and Japan regains its independence. The U.S. remains the military protector of a pacifist Japan.

1954

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces — preceded by the National Police Reserve — are established to protect the Japanese islands.

1954

The Japan Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement provides for the presence of U.S. armed forces in Japan “in the interest of peace and security.”

1956

Japan joins the U.N.

1960

Japan and the U.S. sign a new Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, which reaffirms common interest and alliance in the event that either country is attacked or in danger. However, it is understood that Japan, due to Article 9 of its Constitution, could offer little help in terms of military support abroad.

The National Diet of Japan, Japan’s bicameral legislature, passes the U.N. Peacekeeping Operations Cooperation Bill allowing Japanese Self-Defense Forces to be sent outside Japan.

1992

For the first time, Japan deploys the Self Defense Force (SDF) to Cambodia. The 1,216 personnel monitor the cease-fire, repair infrastructure and supply food, facilities and medical care as part of the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia.

1993

North Korea provokes a crisis by withdrawing from the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.

1996

Japan sends 1,000 SDF personnel to the Golan Heights to coordinate transport and perform maintenance as part of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force, which supervises the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.

1997

The revision of the Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation increases Japan’s role in the event of crisis in the Asian region and creates an “effective, operational alliance” with the U.S.

1998

North Korea launches a missile over mainland Japan into the Pacific. Japan responds by planning to militarize space with spy satellites.

2001

The Japanese Maritime SDF sinks a North Korean spy ship believed to be carrying arms in Chinese waters, making it the first use of military force since WWII.

2001

After the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Japan provides noncombat support for U.N.-sanctioned coalition against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

2002

North Korea admits to abducting 13 Japanese nationals in the late 1970s and early 1980s. North Korea returns five and says the remaining eight are dead.

2003

Japan launches spy satellites to improve its surveillance of the region.

2004

Japan sends 600 SDF personnel to Iraq to provide medical treatment, supply water and reconstruct public facilities, along with another 330 SDF personnel to the Persian Gulf to transport vehicles and other equipment.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe upgrades the Japan Defense Agency to a cabinet-level ministry called the Ministry of Defense.

2008

Japan plans to partially lift sanctions on North Korea after they agree to investigate abducted Japanese nationals.

2008

A Japanese warship docks in China for the first time since World War II. The exchange is symbolic of improving relations between the two rival Asian powers and former WWII enemies.

2008

North Korea declares its nuclear capabilities, programs and activities, but Japan remains cautious of North Korean direct nuclear threat.

2008

On June 30, 2008, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced that Japan would send SDF officials into Sudan as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission. The Japanese government has yet to decide how many officials would be sent or when.

Sources: AP, BBC, Council on Foreign Relations, Japan Rising by Kenneth B. Pyle, The Economist, The Guardian, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, PBS, Securing Japan by Richard J. Samuels, The Washington Post, and the U.S. Dept. of State.